Go and capture those thirty-six fierce villains.

Qin Ning looked up at the sky.

The pale yellow sunlight was dazzling. It was late afternoon, who would be looking for him at this time?

"Qin Li, put the things away first."

Upon hearing this, the little black cat, which was perched on the treetop, leaped down, opened its small mouth, and a black light enveloped the many objects on the table, temporarily swallowing them into its belly.

Qin Ning stepped into the front hall, unlatched the door, and saw a middle-aged man in his forties standing outside.

The man was dressed in ordinary coarse cloth clothes, with faint bruises on his face. One arm was in a sling across his chest, and the other hand was leaning on a wooden crutch with a bulging burlap bag hanging from it.

Are you here to see a doctor?

But the couplet on my door clearly states that external injuries cannot be treated...

A look of doubt flashed in Qin Ning's eyes: "What is this, Your Excellency?"

"Young Master Qin, I am Gu Wenqu, and I have come to thank you for saving my life."

The man bowed with difficulty and said apologetically, "I am injured and unable to perform the kneeling ceremony. I hope Lord Qin will forgive me."

Then, the man tucked the wooden crutch under his arm, took off the package on top, and handed it to Qin Ning.

"This is a small token of my appreciation, and I hope you will accept it, Lord Qin. I should have come to express my gratitude after I recovered from my injuries, but I will be moving away from Beian City soon, so I came here without permission."

Qin Ning looked at the coarse cloth package handed to him, smelled the faint aroma of sweet potatoes, and a hint of doubt flashed in his bright black eyes.

"Have we met before?"

He searched his memory but couldn't recall who the middle-aged man in front of him was, so he didn't take the coarse cloth bag.

"The Tax Bureau, that privately established torture chamber, the magistrate ordered his men to bandage me up."

Gu Wenqu coughed lightly a few times and whispered a reminder.

Oh...you're the one Wang Bian almost saved from death...The image of the other person in the prison cell, ragged and bloodied, flashed through Qin Ning's mind, slowly overlapping with the person in front of him.

"It's you. The Liu family has already been brought to justice. Why are you still leaving Bei'an City?"

As Qin Ning spoke, he took the coarse cloth bag, squeezed it slightly, and guessed that the package contained something like dried sweet potatoes.

Gu Wenqu smiled bitterly: "Although that corrupt official has been brought to justice, Governor Zhang is still here. I am just a businessman, so naturally I dare not stay in this Beian City any longer."

In fact, besides that, being penniless and kicked out by the landlord, leaving him with no choice but to seek survival in his old house in the countryside, was also one of the reasons.

Ke Gu Wenqu did not want to expose his predicament in front of his savior, so he did not mention the matter.

Qin Ning sighed softly, her gaze sweeping over the other person, noticing that the cuffs and hems of the clothes were torn and the clothes did not fit properly.

"Since we're already at the door, why don't we come in and have a cup of tea?"

Gu Wenqu bowed even lower and said apologetically, "Sir, I should not refuse your invitation, but the city gates will close in an hour. As you can see from my own legs... even if I leave now, I may not make it in time. If I delay any longer, I'm afraid I won't be able to get out today."

Upon hearing this, Qin Ning did not insist further and softly wished her to take care.

Looking at Gu Wenqu's slow and upright back, he sighed deeply in his heart.

The other party, dragging his still-healing, serious injuries, came here to express his gratitude, yet he was not intimidated by the infamous reputation of the Sichen Guard in the city. Clearly, he was a person with strong opinions and a sense of gratitude.

His attire indicated that he was not well-off at the moment.

Qin Ning could roughly guess the real reason why the other party left Bei'an, but since Gu Wenqu had refused his invitation, it meant that the other party did not want to accept help again for no reason.

"This is the state of the world."

Qin Ning turned and went back into the house. The little black cat darted over and sniffed the coarse cloth bundle.

"These dried sweet potatoes smell delicious! Qin Ning, did someone bring you something tasty?"

"Um."

I placed the package on the counter, casually untied it, and golden sweet potato chips were revealed, emitting a faint aroma. They looked to be of excellent quality.

"It smells so good."

"You eat it, and then draw the talisman..." Qin Ning said, then suddenly felt that the name Gu Wenqu sounded familiar. "Wait, Qin Li, spit out the official document that I gave you after I came back last time."

Qin Li: "Which volume?"

"The part of the Taxation Division."

A black light enveloped the dossier, which fell into Qin Ning's hands. He quickly flipped through a few pages and saw Gu Wenqu's name on it.

Gu Wenqu entered Bei'an at the age of twenty, worked as an apprentice and a laborer. At the age of twenty-five, he started to make his fortune by going from street to street. By the age of thirty, he had his own shop, and in the following ten years, he opened several branch shops.

His businesses included rice trading, silk shops, jade and antiques, etc., making him a self-made tycoon, until he caught the eye of the Liu father and son...

This is a business genius... Since you're unwilling to accept help for nothing, what if I offer an equivalent exchange?

A glint flashed in Qin Ning's eyes, and he turned and walked towards the door.

......

Gu Wenqu moved slowly but steadily along Anhe Street.

He sensed the strange looks from the people on both sides of the street and from some pedestrians. He knew that this was because he had just gone to Xingzhentang and had spoken for a while with Qin Hanchan, who was "infamous throughout the city".

"Most people in the world are foolish... Ha, why think about these things? I should think about whether I can make it back to the old house alive first." Gu Wenqu chuckled self-deprecatingly, took a step forward, and his stomach rumbled.

That bag of dried sweet potatoes was his provisions for the journey, and the only thing he had on him.

"I should have kept two for myself..."

As Gu Wenqu was thinking this, a hand suddenly patted his shoulder.

"Young Master Qin, what's wrong?"

Qin Ning smiled and said, "Manager Gu, I went back and thought about it for a moment. I think you should come in and have a cup of tea before you leave."

Gu Wenqu looked bewildered: "Huh?"

Then, to the astonishment of everyone on the street, Qin Ning grabbed Gu Wenqu with one hand and darted back into his own acupuncture clinic.

Clang!

The gate was tightly shut.

"This... snatching someone in the street, should we report it to the authorities?"

"You've lost your mind! That's the highest-ranking official in Bei'an City right now!"

"This is outrageous... Let's go to Prince Su's residence to petition!"

The lobby of the clinic.

After Qin Ning put Gu Wenqu down, he took out two hundred taels of silver notes and gently patted them on the counter.

"Young Master Qin, what do you mean by this? I haven't even repaid your life-saving grace yet, how can I accept this from you..."

"Don't dream about it. This money isn't given to you for nothing."

Qin Ning interrupted with a smile, looking at Gu Wenqu who seemed somewhat bewildered.

"I plan to open a shop in this city, but I'm short of a manager. I wonder if Manager Gu would be willing to help me?"

Gu Wenqu looked at the silver notes on the counter: "Young Master Qin, do you mean these two hundred taels of silver are my wages?"

Qin Ning smiled without saying a word and nodded slightly.

Gu asked, "But why didn't you... just now, Lord Qin?"

"I just found out you're a business prodigy too." Qin Ning pointed to the files still spread out on the table. "We're all men, stop beating around the bush and give me a straight answer."

After a moment of contemplation, Gu Wenqu laboriously reached out and stuffed the two hundred taels of silver into his pocket.

"Since you, Lord Qin, appreciate my efforts, I will naturally do my utmost. May I ask what business this shop mainly engages in, how many employees it currently employs, and its location?"

"Our main business is uncertain, we don't have any employees, and we'll discuss the address later."

"what?"

"Go back and take good care of your injuries. The shop should open within the next two months, so don't let us down."

After Qin Ning finished speaking, he made a gesture of invitation towards the gate.

Gu Wenqu left the clinic in a daze.